


fiction superseding faith

by badskeletonpuns



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Mutual Pining, Other, School Reunion, Slow Dancing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 20:50:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17567741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badskeletonpuns/pseuds/badskeletonpuns
Summary: Mako needs a fake date for the September Institute's school reunion, because it turns out that's a thing they do there. Cass needs to get through the night without admitting how much they would like to be Mako's real date. Honestly, they shouldn't have even agreed to this scheme in the first place, but... Here they are.





	fiction superseding faith

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nextyear](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nextyear/gifts).



> [cass’s outfit: add the jacket, and it’s in silvers and blues rather than white.](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/d8/ee/ee/d8eeee4f75ad2d1c73d00508247fe451.jpg)  
> [mako’s outfit: add a holographic layer over the black, and change the pants to a skirt.](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/19/60/77/1960777d8ea471bb167e5b3aeadd207a.jpg)  
> happy holidays, nextyear! i love writing fake dating, so i was so happy when you requested it :D hope you enjoy!  
> also the song they dance to is ["So Close" by Jon Mclaughlin.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zlFuLTNAKw)

 

Cass shakes their head. “I’m too old for this.” 

Mako sticks out his tongue. “Too old for what, fun?” He slides over the back of the couch in a move he  _ has _ to have practiced when no one was around, flopping into Cass’s personal space in a way that they really want to say they don’t like. 

(They could say that, but they would be lying. Mako is warm and solid against them, and this close they can make out the freckles spattered across the bridge of his nose.)

Cass faces Mako, lowering their eyebrows in the most serious face they can muster. “Too old to pretend to date  _ anyone _ because he doesn’t want to be the only one at his school reunion single. Why does September even have a reunion?” 

Mako shrugs. “Beats me. But come on, Cass, even Lazer Ted’s bringing some people he met on an ‘import-slash-export venture.’” He leans in even closer, opening his eyes wide and sticking out his bottom lip. “Please!” he begs, drawing out the last syllable until he runs out of breath. “He threatened to bring someone single to set me up with. Friends don’t let friends go on blind dates recommended by Lazer Ted.” 

In an effort to stave off the inevitable, Cass casts their mind out for anyone (who would not already be at the reunion) that they know Mako knows well enough to pretend to date for a wild scheme. Both Aria and Jacqui would think it was hilarious, probably, but too many people knew that the two of them were together. Orth was busy with political maneuvering, Paisley Moon was fixing something that Cass did not want to know about… “AuDy?” they suggest. 

Look, throwing their other friends under the bus is not something Cass normally does, but this is an emergency. 

A Mako-shaped emergency, which is the most dangerous kind. 

Mako sighs and shakes his head. Bits of blond hair are coming loose from his headband and falling in his face, and Cass prays to Apotine that their desire to fix Mako’s hair is not obvious as it feels. This is precisely why they cannot pretend to date Mako. 

They would like to  _ actually _ date him far too much.

“I went in to ask,” Mako says, with a far more mournful voice than the subject deserves, “and they said no before I’d even started talking!” He turns to Cass again, all big sad eyes watering with crocodile tears that Cass is absolutely not going to fall for. “Cass, you know I wouldn’t ask unless it was important. Please?” 

And really, there was no universe where Cass didn’t eventually give in to Mako’s pleading. “All right,” they cave. Mako scoops them into a hug immediately, thanking them over and over.

By all rights, Cass should be thinking about how fucked they are for having agreed to this. 

But instead, Cass can’t stop thinking about how Mako must have used their shampoo the last time he showered, because his hair kind of smells like them. It’s very distracting having someone else use their stuff. That’s the only reason they’re thinking about it this much. Definitely. 

“So,” Mako hedges while his mouth is very close to the sensitive fins at the sides of their face. “Did I mention the reunion is tomorrow?” 

And just like that, Cass remembers how absolutely fucked they are. 

Cass knows why they’re getting ready with Mako. It just makes sense for the two of them to help each other look nice, and it means that they can make sure nothing Mako wears is plastic. 

What they don’t get is how the rest of the Chime got roped into this. 

Aria and AuDy sit on Mako’s bed, AuDy carefully drawing designs in a double-sided sequin pillow and Aria lying on her back, staring at the ceiling. (The ceiling on which Mako has Mesh-doodled the Chime embroiled in various adventures, because of course he has.) Cass is doing their level best to coax Mako’s hair up into a crown braid, standing behind him with one knee on his chair to stop him from spinning around to debate things with Aria and AuDy. 

And by ‘things,’ Cass means ‘their and Mako’s fake relationship.’

“I think we would have been dating for longer than a few months,” Mako insists, frowning at his reflection in the handheld mirrors Aria and Cass had brought in. “I’d want to bring someone I was close to, you know?”

“You only asked them last night,” AuDy points out. 

“Maybe you were nervous from all your  _ feelings _ ,” Aria suggests. She waggles her eyebrows. “Sappy, sappy feelings.” 

It’s definitely a poke at Cass’s own hidden feelings, but before opening their mouth to protest they glance down at Mako to finish off a section of braid at the side of his head. And… He’s blushing, lavender around his cheeks and the tops of his ears. 

They forget what they were going to protest. 

Mako coughs awkwardly and jerks in his chair, and it’s only Cass’s knee in his side that stops him from spinning around. “Mako! Do you want me to do your hair or not?” 

He meets Cass’s eyes in the mirror, still flushed and now grinning sheepishly at them. “I do, I promise. I’m just…” He shrugs, still smiling. “Excited? To go on a nice date with my… boyfriend?” 

“Very convincing,” AuDy says from behind them while Cass chokes on air. 

Mako frowns, face creasing in distress. “Oh, is ‘boyfriend’ okay? I should ask before we go!” 

“It’s—it’s fine,” Cass gets out. They’ve finished the braid and they let their hands slip down to rest on Mako’s shoulders. 

They don’t want to let go. “Really?” Mako asks, and this time Cass lets him turn in the chair till they’re facing each other. Somehow they always forget how serious Mako can be when he worries about something, and how helpless they are to that hesitation in his normally confident grin. 

“Absolutely,” Cass confirms, and their heart doesn’t flip when he beams at them and pops out of his chair to smack a kiss on their forehead. The gesture is casual and affectionate and everything Cass cannot have after this night. 

Mako breezes past them as if it didn’t affect him at all, pacing past 

“Alright, lemme see if I’ve got all the rules down. Okay stuff: kissing just not on the lips, pet names, hand-holding and hugging, bragging about not illegal stuff. Not okay stuff: lip smooches, groping, bragging about super illegal things.” He pauses. “How about like, mildly illegal missions?” 

“I really don’t want to get arrested for this, Mako.” 

“We won’t get arrested for  _ mildly _ illegal,” Mako protests. He’s digging around in a drawer as he talks, going through what looks like a mixture of clothing, bits of tech, and literal garbage. When he turns around and stands up, there’s a string of beads piled in his hands. “Here, it’s my turn to help with hair stuff!”

As he gets closer, Cass can see that the beads are a mixture of refurbished technology—interwoven wires, microchips polished smooth, screws soldered into stars—and shells from cowries to tiny spirals. “Is that… for me?” They’re touched, more than they would like to admit. 

Mako nods enthusiastically. “Yeah, of course! I got all the tech bits myself, and I bought the shells off some Apostolosian seller on the Mesh so… Can’t guarantee they’re like, awesome, but, you know, they should be okay.” He’s blushing again, and Cass desperately wishes they could control their own blush. They’re probably glowing at this point. Mako looks at them, something almost shy on his face, and Cass can’t seem to look away. 

Aria wolf-whistles in the background and the moment is broken. Cass coughs and drums their fingers against their ampullae, letting the soft hum of their own bioelectricity calm them. “I’d better go finish getting ready.” 

“Mhhm,” Mako agrees. He shoves the bead string into their hands. “Thanks for doing my hair, buddy!” He spins around like he can’t bear to look at Cass one second longer. 

Like if he keeps looking, he won’t be able to stop himself from doing something both of them will probably regret. Or maybe that’s just Cass’s problem. 

Cass backpedals out of Mako’s room as fast as they can without hitting the wall. 

The two of them don’t get the chance to talk again until they’re in a cab on the way to the venue. It’s some dance hall on September that neither of them have been to before, tucked in the middle of a high-end shopping district. 

A divider separates them from the driver, leaving Cass and Mako alone in the back of the vehicle. Cass resolutely stares out their window at the lights and buildings that line the street, transformed into streaks of light and color as they’re passed. 

“Um, so,” Mako begins. “I was thinking that for real, we should probably pretend to have been dating for a while? It would make more sense.” 

Cass turns to look him as he speaks, which is a huge mistake. When they’d left Mako’s room, he had still been in an untucked shirt and leggings. Now he’s wearing a skirt and matching vest, and they are… A little bit tacky, actually, but it works too damn well. There’s some sort of holographic film over the black base layer of both pieces, and every time Mako moves the light reflects a different color off of the fabric. 

Mako has also dusted some sort of shimmer powder over his face, adding a similar light effect that makes his cheekbones nearly glow. 

Cass forgets what Mako just said. “I… Yeah, that sounds good.” 

They’re honestly expecting Mako to catch on to their distraction in moments, so it’s surprising when he just sighs in what sounds like relief and nods. “Great. Do you want to decide how we met?” 

“We should probably stick to something close to the truth, right?” Cass suggests. A little bit of the shimmer powder is caught on Mako’s upper lip, gleaming every time he smiles at Cass. 

Which he’s doing now, smiling and leaning in close to whisper. “I don’t know, I think that mission was maybe more than a ‘little bit’ illegal.” 

“I said ‘close to the truth,’ I didn’t say ‘admit that we stole information from a powerful company.’ We could say we met at work.” Cass is throwing out suggestions as soon as they have them, unable to concentrate with Mako so close. They worry at the intricate cuffs of their sleeves as they try to come up with something else. 

Mako picks up the story for them; his grin only gets wider as he adds details. “Ooo, a workplace romance. I wouldn’t have guessed you had such a scandal in you, Cass. So, we met at work, and I definitely had a crush on you immediately.”

“No, it was the other way around,” Cass says, like an idiot.

Luckily, Mako doesn’t seem to notice the purple flush running up Cass’s neck at their near-confession. He just shakes his head, waving a hand dismissively. “Nah, no one will believe that. There’s no way I’m your type.” 

Cass would beg to differ. 

“So,” Mako continues without waiting, “we met, we crushed, I annoyed you into agreeing to go on a date with me, we argued all through the first date and then went to your place and had ridiculously hot makeup sex, and the next morning I made you breakfast and it was like, ‘Shit, maybe this Mako dude isn’t half-bad,’ and it snowballed from there.” 

_ Now, we don’t have time to unpack all that _ , Cass thinks. “I asked you out first,” they say. At least they can be brave in this fake relationship with Mako, right? 

Mako chews on his lip and considers their offer. “Only if I kissed you first.” He holds up his hands before Cass can say anything. “I know we aren’t going to kiss tonight, but knowing shit like that will help us convince people, right?” 

“Right.” 

The car pulls to a stop outside the venue. It’s a squat building, a mesh faux-brick pattern laid over bare metal. The edges of it fizzle in and out in the corners of Cass’s vision, and the low thrum it emits sets their scales on edge the moment they step onto the pavement. 

“Let’s get inside.” They grab Mako’s hand (sparing only a instant to notice how warm it is and how well their hands fit together) and lead him towards the main door. 

He follows without hesitation, close enough on Cass’s heels for them to feel the warmth of his skin so near their own. Or maybe they’re imagining it. At this point, Cass wouldn’t put it past themself. 

“We should dance!” Mako announces, the moment they enter the room. Cass has to stop for a moment and blink, adjusting to the dim light of the space. The theme must be some sort of ancient Earth throwback. Paper streamers swoop across the ceiling in careful arcs, accompanied by tissue flowers and shifting tinted lights. It reminds Cass of some of the sets in the old high school dramas Mako convinces them to watch every now and then. 

“C’mon, are you just gonna stand there all night?” Mako stands in front of Cass, still holding onto their hand. He’s smiling at them, white teeth catching a blacklight glow from one of the room’s light fixtures. He squeezes their hand and tugs them forward. 

“We have only been here for a minute, at most. It has been nowhere near long enough for you to talk about ‘all night,’” Cass points out. Mako shakes his head and laughs. When he looks back at Cass, he keeps his head dipped slightly. He’s looking up at them from hooded eyes, shimmer powder catching every color of light when he blinks.

“Just one dance, Cass?” And his voice is small, it’s careful and cautious and everything Mako isn’t. 

Cass can’t look away from Mako’s eyes. 

“Okay, but just one. Seriously.” 

One upbeat dance anthem turns into one more, turns into “Oh, this one is Aria’s, we have to keep dancing.” And by the time a slow beat starts up and is immediately joined by a lighter piano accompaniment, Cass knows they’ll dance till their feet fall off if it means Mako will keep beaming at them like this. 

He steps closer and holds out his hand to Cass. “May I have this dance?” 

“Of course,” they murmur. Years of Apostolosian formal dance have Cass bowing just slightly, letting the rhythm of the dance carry their steps. They shed their suit jacket after the first dance, and now the hint of a breeze on their bare shoulders and back when they bow makes them shiver. 

The strapless top was probably a bad idea, but Mako can’t seem to take his eyes off of them and Cass can’t bring themself to regret it. 

It’s just the colors, probably. Just the night. The atmosphere of the room would make anyone a little dizzy, and the punch is definitely spiked with something. Nevermind that neither of them have had any of the punch or that they haven’t been here long enough to be as overwhelmed as Cass is feeling. 

Cass steps forward, allowing Mako to drape one arm over their shoulders and take their hand in his own. They set their other hand on his waist, the slightest hint of pressure all they dare. Mako leans in closer, till they’re chest to chest. 

“Gotta make it look real, right?” he whispers, and Cass can barely muster up a nod. Nevermind how it feels. It just has to  _ look _ real. 

Mako rests his head on their shoulder and the two of them… Well, they sway more than anything else. It’s still better than any waltz Cass has danced in court; their shuffling steps more intimate than the waltz’s formal motions. Cass can feel Mako breathing, the rise and fall of his chest and the heat of his breath on their neck. 

Thank Apotine for the blacklight, because it makes it less obvious how bright their blush is glowing. Cass holds on to Mako’s waist a little tighter as they turn around the dancefloor, and they’d like to think that he presses closer to them in turn. 

The singer croons something about almost believing that this one’s not pretend, and it’s so on the nose that Cass’s breath hitches at the pang of emotion it causes. 

Mako pulls his head up to look at them. “You good?” he murmurs. 

“Just fine,” Cass promises. They’re imagining the break in Mako’s voice when he speaks, right? They pull him close again, muttering something about people looking at them. 

(Cass has no idea if people are actually looking at them. They don’t care.)

As they sway back and forth, Mako’s breathing changes. Cass is more than close enough to feel it: the ragged intakes of breath; the careful, tiny sounds he can’t avoid. They try to pull away far enough to look Mako in the eyes, but he holds on to them and shakes his head without looking up. 

“Can we just—just finish this song?” His voice is hoarse and Cass’s shoulder is damp. And they want nothing more than to drag Mako back to the Kingdom Come and feed him ice cream and watch shitty dramas until the only reason he’s crying is because he’s laughing so hard. 

“Absolutely,” Cass says instead, and they smooth their hand down Mako’s back as comfortingly as they can. He leans into them without complaint, lets them lead him in careful circles around the floor until the last notes fade out. 

And then he’s out of their arms like a bullet, darting through other dancers and partiers until he vanishes through a side exit. 

Cass runs after him, because like  _ hell _ are they going to let Mako go off in a corner and cry by himself at his own reunion. No matter how they feel about him, they aren’t going to be that awful of a friend. They push other people out of their way without hesitation. So what if they end up in a tabloid for being rude at a party they’re only at as a plus one? That sounds like a problem for future Cass. 

“Mako!” they call out after pushing through the exit door. It leads to another hallway rather than the street, but it’s still far colder than the crowded main area. “Are you there?” 

“No! Mako’s not here!” Mako’s answering shout comes from a cracked door, and Cass peers in to a room that looks to be a conference room of some sort during the week. Mako isn’t immediately visible, just a long faux-wood table and several mismatched office chairs. They have to kneel on the linoleum floor before they find him, sitting with his knees tucked to his chest under the table. 

Cass ducks down to sit next to him, careful not to touch. “Hey.” 

Mako makes a noncommittal sound.

“Is everything… okay?” They risk scooting a bit closer, till their leg is almost touching the hem of Mako’s skirt where it drapes to the ground. 

“It’s all your fault,” Mako mutters, staring resolutely at a chipped spot on the table leg in front of them. 

And that’s cool, that’s fine, Cass is absolutely fine with Mako being mad at them, they’re just going to go fly back to Apostolos and lie down in the ocean and never come to the surface again. It’s completely okay. “Yeah?” they venture.

And he’s looking at them now, makeup smudged across his face and eyes red and watery. “Yeah! With your stupid handsome face! And the stupid strapless top that makes your shoulders look like that! That’s not even mentioning that like, sheer floaty thing over the pants because that’s just fucking overkill, it’s like, ‘Oh, I’m Cassander, I’m the world’s most pretty fish already, but I’m going to wear these stupid awful pretty clothes so I look even better, and have I said that I’m wearing jewelry you gave me?!’” Mako sucks in a ragged breath and scrubs a hand across his face. “Shit.” He’s still glaring at the table. “It’s just. You know. Not fair.” 

“... You think I look nice?” Cass asks, trying to process everything Mako had just said. 

Mako shifts to look at them, doing his best to keep glaring even though his bottom lip is quivering and his voice is wavering. “Yeah,” he says, and pulls his legs in closer to him. “It doesn’t have to be like, a big deal or anything.”

Cass clears their throat and shifts closer again, pressing the side of their leg against Mako’s. “What if…” They shiver with the energy running through them, buzzing like electricity. “What if I was okay with it being a big deal?” 

Mako stares at them, eyes wide. “Cass—” he starts, and then he glances down at their lips. This entire night has been pushing Cass’s self control to the breaking point. It had to snap at some point, right?

They tip their head to one side and lean in, brushing their lips over Mako’s softly. It’s barely a kiss at all, but when they pull back Mako is flushed and teary-eyed. 

“Cass,” he says again, like it’s all he can say. 

There’s no one around them to see, no reason for Cass to keep pretending. 

They pull Mako into another kiss anyway, and this time he kisses back. “I wanted to bring you as my date to this for real,” he admits, mumbling against their lips. “I thought I could pretend and it would be enough, but…” 

Cass kisses him again, and again, until they’re both smiling too big to keep kissing. “I know how you feel.”

“Wait, really?!” 

They pull away and raise their eyebrows. “Mako, I promise. If I didn’t want to kiss you, for  _ real _ , I would not have kissed you. I’m not faking anything.”

Mako has the grace to look sheepish, and leans in to kiss the tip of Cass’s nose. “That makes sense.” He unfolds his legs from his chest and stretches out, pointing the tips of his toes. “We should probably get back to the dance, right?”

Cass shrugs. “We are probably trespassing.” 

“Yeah, absolutely.” Despite his words, Mako scoots over and swings a leg over Cass’s so he’s straddling them. “We should not stay here and make out in this conveniently empty room.” 

“No way,” Cass agrees, and they cup Mako’s face to tug him down into a kiss. 

They do go back into the reunion… Eventually. 


End file.
